Coupling mechanism



Jan. 2, 1940. E. A. LARSSON COUPLING MECHANI SM Filed Dec. 16, 1938 NN m Inventor ERNST/i lAEssozv A tome y Patented Jan. 2, 1940 warren stares COUPLING MECHANISM Ernst A. Larsson, lvlansfield,v ()hio, assignor to The Ohio Brass Company, Mansfield, Ohio, a corporation of New Jersey Application December 16, 1938, SerialNo. 246,149

8 Claims.

My invention relates to transportation equipment and refers particularly to cars equipped to haul materials in connection with industrial works and mines.

The principal object of my invention is to provide a car equipped with braking mechanism and when the car is standing the brake will be auto-- matically applied but when the car is connected in a train or is being either pulled or pushed through the medium of its coupler the braking mechanism will be automatically released.

To secure this operation the coupler is interlocked with the brake mechanism.

It is quite desirable in industrial and mine haul age, under some conditions, to have the cars so equipped that the brakes will be automatically set when the car is at rest either alone or as a unit coupled in a train.

Most industrial cars are equipped with hand operated brakes; therefore, they are free to move of their own accord ii on a slope unless the operator in the interest of safety is cautious enough to set the brakes.

With my invention the brakes are automatically set when the car is standing alone or in a train while at rest unless there is a pull or push upon the couplers suficient to move the braking apparatus from its normal position, that is, its braking position which is its position intermediate those positions in which the coupler is under tension as in pulling or under compression when pushing.

My invention resides in the new and novel construction, combination, and relation of the parts hereinafter described and disclosed in the drawing accompanying this specification and as set forth in the claims.

In the drawing:

Fig. l is a plan View looking down upon a portion of a car and showing my invention as positioned thereon at one end of the car; a portion of the flooring is removed.

Fig. 2 is a side view of Fig. 1 and shows the braking and coupling apparatus in normal position, that is, the brakes are shown as set.

Fig. 3 is a section of my invention taken on the line 3-3 of Fig. 1.

In the preferred embodiment of my invention I use platform I which may be of metal or wood and upon which may be mounted a frame 2 forming' therewith a receptacle for material to be hauled.

Upon .one end of the truck frame I have mounted longitudinally extending spaced )2 beams 3 and 3'. Each I beam is provided with spaced slots 4.

rear faces of the slots 4 in the beam 3'.

- is a brake shoe l5.

Mounted loosely in the slots are anchor bars 5 One end of each bar dis pivctally secured to the a beam 3 by means of a bracket 6 which is attached to the beam 3 in any well known manner as by riveting or welding, and the vertical pin l. A spacer 8 is employed between the bars 5 to better maintain the projecting ends of the bars in spaced relation.

The other end of each of the bars 5 is brought intomore closely spaced relation as at 9.

Pivotally secured to the bars 5 intermediate the v beams 33 and 3 is a coupler H) which may be of a type such as shown in Tomlinson Patent 1,609,4d4 or which may be of well known Janney type.

The pivotal connection is secured through the;

medium of the'eye portion II and the pin l2. Theiront end of the coupler is supported by the cross beam IQ.

The slots in the beam 3 are made of such length that when the car is being pulledthe tension on the coupler ill will move the bars ii about the pin '1 and into engagement with the forward faces of the slots 4 while if the car is being pushed then the bars 5 will be moved in the opposite direction about the pin 1 and will engage'with the This ar' rangement makes a positive and solid connection between the coupler and the car when the car is being either pulled or pushed since the bars 5 are at all times positively connected to the car bodyv at the pivot end. The braking mechanism so far as it relates to the shoe and hanger may be of any construction desired to meet requirements but in the drawing I have shown such comprising a supporting bar 13 which is attached to a cross beam M by means of a. hanger l5. To the lower end of the bar I 3 Projecting from the bar- I3 is a brakerod ll to which is attached one end of the spring i8 while the other end of the spring is attached to the beam 14 by means of an adjustable I-bolt l9.

By this arrangement the spring [8 is constantly exerting effort to move the shoe l6 into'engagement with the car wheel Ell which is secured to the truck by means of the supporting bracket 2 I. The other end of the car is shown as mounted upon the wheel 22 by means of the supporting frame 23. It will be recognized that the fully equipped car is provided with two wheels and two wheels 22 at the corners of the frame and that each wheel 2!] may be equipped with a brake shoe if desired.

In order to transmit motion from the bars 5 to the brake rod ii, I mount'upon the car body a lever 24 to which are pivotally secured links 25 and 26. The lever 24 is pivotally attached to the car body by means of the downwardly extending pin 2'! which may be secured to the platform I by means of welding if the platform is of iron or by bolting if the platform is one of wood.

The forward end of the link 25 is slotted and is operatively connected to thebars 5 by means of the pin 28 which extends through the slot 29.

The link 26 is provided at its forward end with a slot 30 and is operatively connected to the bars 5 by means of the pin 3| which passes through the,

slot 30. The bars 5 are so related through the pins 1, I2, 28 and 3| that they act as a single anchor bar.

In the arrangement disclosed in Figs. 1 and 2 the parts are shown in their normal position, that is, the axis 33 of the bars 5 is shown midway of the slots 4 and the rear end of the slot 29 of the link 25 is shown engaging the pin 28 while the forward end of the slot 39 of the link 26 isshown engaging the pin 3 I and the brake shoe I 6 is shown in braking position in contact with the wheel 20. I

If now the car should be coupled to a locomotive and moved in the direction of the arrow, a tension or pull will be exerted on the coupler in which case the bars will be moved about the pin l and brought into contact with the forward faces of the slots 4. This will cause the link 26 to move in a forward direction and which in turn will pivot the lever 24 about the pin 21 thus moving the brake rod I! in a forward direction thereby releasing the shoe Hi from its engagement with the wheel 20.

During this operation the link 25 will move relative to the pin 28 but the length of the slot 29 is such that there will be no positive engagement of the link 25 with the pin 28.

If, however, the locomotive should move the car in the direction opposite to the arrow then thepush on the coupler which is transmitted to the bars 5 will move the bars about the pin '1 such that they will engage with the rear faces of the slots 4. This will cause the pin 28 to move the link 25 in a rearward direction which in turn will cause the lever 24 to pivot about the pin 2! and move the brake rod I! in a forward direction thus releasing the brake. In this operation the link 25 will not be affected by the pin 3|.

In Fig. 1 the lines 32 and 33 represent the position taken by the axis of the bars 5 when moved to a pulling or pushing position respectively.

In Fig. 2 the car is shown as mounted upon a rail 34. 1

The spring l8 should be of sufficient strength to move the bars 5 to and maintain them in their normal position when the car is standing uncoupled and to also set the brakes. If there is a tendency for the bars 5v to remain, for instance, in a forward position, the spring l8 will draw the rod l1 rearwardly and this will draw thelink 26 rearwardly and also the bars 5 until the pin 28 and rear face of the slot 29 in the link 25, engage and the shoe 16 into engagement with the wheel20.

When the car is in motion, there may be times when the pull on the coupler shifts to a "push; under such conditions the brakes are set for an instant only which is found in operation to be of little consequence.

It will be recognized that many modifications may be made in the arrangement, relation and the construction of the parts from those which I have shown and described and still secure the same results as I secure and which modifications will fall within the scope of my invention, therefore, I wish to be limited only by my claims.

I claim:

1. A vehicle comprising a car body mounted on wheels, means cooperating with the wheels for braking the car, means to apply the brakes while the car is uncoupled, a'car coupler to connect the car to another coupler whereby the car may be moved in either direction, anchor means movable relative to the car and to which the coupler is secured, the said means being moved when the car is being moved by the coupler, mechanism connecting the movable means with the braking means, the said mechanism including a pair of links each link having a slotted connection at one end with other parts of the mechanism whereby the braking means is released when the car is being moved by its coupler.

2. A vehicle comprising a car body mounted on wheels, means cooperating with the wheels for braking the car, means to apply the brakes while the car is uncoupled, a car coupler by means of which the car may be moved, means movable relative to the car, means to secure the coupler to the movable means whereby the said movable means is moved when a pull is exerted on the coupler to move the car, mechanism including a pivoted lever connected to the movable means by a link having a lost-motion connection to the movable means to operatively connect the movable means and the braking means whereby the movement of the said movable means is transmitted to the braking means to release the braking means.

3. A vehicle comprising a car body mounted on wheels, means cooperating with the wheels for braking the car, means to effect the application of the braking means while the car is standing, an anchor bar mounted on the car body and movable relative to the body, mechanism connecting the bar and the braking means whereby the braking means is moved to its released position when the anchor bar is moved from its normal position and the anchor bar returned to its normal position when the brakes are applied, the said mechanism comprising a pivoted lever having its ends connected to the anchor bar by means including lost-motion and one end connected to the braking means, and a car coupler mounted on the anchor bar to move the bar from its normal position while moving the car.

4. A vehicle comprising a car body mounted on wheels, means cooperating with the wheels for braking the car, means to elfect the application of the braking means while the car is standing. an anchor bar mounted on the car body and mov able relative to the body, lost-motion mechanism connecting the bar and the braking means whereby the braking means is moved to its released position when the anchor bar is moved from its normal position and a car coupler mounted on the anchor bar to move the bar from its normal position while moving the car.

5. A vehicle comprising a car body mounted on wheels, means cooperating with the wheels for braking the car, means to effect the application of the braking means while the car is standing. an anchor bar mounted on the car and movable relative thereto from its normal position, mechanism connecting the anchor bar to the braking means, the said mechanism comprising a lever pivoted to the car intermediate its ends and to which the braking means'is attached, each end of the lever provided with a. link having one end attached thereto by a pivotal connection, the other end of each link connected to the anchor bar by a slot and pin connection whereby a movement of the bar in either direction from its normal will release the brakes and a car coupler mounted on the anchor bar to move the anchor bar in either direction from its normal depending upon whether the coupler is pushing or pulling the car.

6. A vehicle comprising a car body mounted on wheels, means-cooperating with the wheels for braking the car, means to effect the application of the braking means while the car is standing, an anchor bar having one end pivotally mounted on the car and the other end movable relative thereto from its normal position, mechanism connected to the said other end of the anchor bar and to the braking means, the said mechanism comprising a lever pivoted to the car intermediate its ends and to which the braking means is attached, each end of the lever provided with a link having one end attached thereto by a pivotal connection, the other end of each link connected to the anchor bar adjacent its movable end by a slot and pin connection whereby a movement of the bar in either direction from its normal will release the brakes and a car coupler mounted on the anchor bar to move the free end of the anchor bar about its pivot in either direction from its normal depending upon whether the coupler is pushing or pulling the car.

7. A vehicle comprising a car body mounted on wheels, means cooperating with the Wheels for braking the car, means to effect the application of the braking mechanism while the car is standing alone, an anchor mechanism mounted on the car body and movable relative to the body in a longitudinal direction, a car coupler attached by one of its ends to the anchor mechanism and adapted to move the anchor mechanism from its normal position longitudinally of the car when the coupler is placed under stress as when pulland the braking mechanism connecting the anchor mechanism and the braking mechanism to move the braking mechanism to its released position when the anchor mechanism is moved from its normal position through a longitudinal stress applied to the coupler.

8. In combination with a car coupler mounted on a vehicle equipped With normally set braking mechanism, the coupler associatedwith anchor means movable longitudinally of the car from its normal position when the coupler is under longitudinal stress, mechanism provided with lost-motion means operatively connecting the anchor means and the braking means whereby the braking means is moved from its normally set position when the coupler is under longitudinal stress suffiicient to move the associated anchor means.

- ERNST A. LARSSON 

